Valley Solutions

Borg, slashers, chef all in Hall

LA Times. Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Evans, Carl Lewis new members of CA’s Hall of Fame. 
Synopsis: Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the latest class of inductees to the state’s Hall of Fame, and it is filled with familiar faces. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, two Olympians, the star of a half-dozen slasher films, two authors, groundbreaking all-femme Mariachi band and even a celebrity chef are on the list. They and others will be celebrated March 19 in Sacramento. Since the Hall of Fame opened 2006, California governors have enshrined 166 members. This year’s oldest inductee is Holocaust survivor Riane Eisler, the youngest is Olympic swimmer Janet Evans at 54. First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom said the new class embodies CA’s best: “creativity, resilience and a spirit of community.”

2,400 homes coming to Ceres

Ceres Courier. Copper Trails specific plan approved by commission.
Synopsis: A plan to annex property into the city of Ceres to facilitate the building of nearly 2,400 homes was approved by the Ceres Planning Commission. Nav Athwal is the lead landowner, but others are involved. The Copper Trails Specific Plan is bordered by Service Road, Union Pacific railroad, Mitchell Road and Hwy 99. At full buildout, the development would also have some 1.2 million square feet of commercial space, five public parks and a trail network. City staff told the commission that the “economic and social benefits” outweigh “significant and unavoidable environmental effects” created by the project. Chair Gary M. Condit was concerned about traffic on Service. Farmer Judy Keyes said she was “100 percent against this,” adding, “Nobody bothered to ask me if I wanted to be part of this.” 

Very dry history of Diablo Grande

Valley Citizen. Diablo Grande: A tale of water woes foretold. 
Synopsis: Retired attorney/journalist Steve Ringhoff takes a long look at the history of Diablo Grande and its unrequited quest for water. Once envisioned as a golf/retirement center with four courses and 6,000 homes, the development stalled out at only 600 homes and one course that has long since fallen into disrepair. Residents now pay $600 a month for water, and even that is tenuous. When this development was first envisioned, more than 20 years ago, Vance Kennedy predicted it would eventually fail due to lack of water. Interesting note: Jack Nicklaus designed one of the courses and was promised his choice of two lots as payment. But before he could choose his lots, the first bankruptcy declaration negated his deal.

Angry over restrictions

SJV Water. As promised, state delivers tough subsidence guidelines prompting some to cry foul. 
Synopsis: The Dept of Water Resources and State Water Board are demanding that local agencies make “hard commitments” and develop “detailed action plans” to halt subsidence around the Valley’s canals and infrastructure. Those demands, say some Valley water managers, are moving the goalposts. The commitments are technically granular concerning the amount of water required in various grades of soil to prevent permanent compaction. Regardless of the numbers, it will require significant additional reductions in groundwater pumping. Stephanie Anagnoson of the Madera County Groundwater Sustainability Agency says the state’s new demands are more than her local agency – which serves Madera, Chowchilla and Delta-Mendota area – planned for. Amer Hussain of Tulare Lake subbasin agreed, also saying the state has altered its demands.

Can grubs deliver vaccines?

Farms.com. New poultry vaccine delivered through feed. 
Synopsis: Kansas State researchers are using mealworms to deliver bird-flu vaccines to commercial poultry. Finding an easy means to inoculate hundreds of millions of birds is crucial in the fight against highly pathogenic avian influenza, which continues to evolve both in barns and in the wild. Scientists are using gene-editing technology to have mealworms produce ingestible antigens, eliminating the need for vaccines applied to either eggs or living animals. 
MAD Note: Why is this important in our Valley? In 2024, more than 5.7 million commercial birds were destroyed in Merced, Stanislaus and Fresno counties alone. Since the bird-flu outbreak began in 2022, more than 24 million birds in California have been destroyed. Across the world, the number is 120 million. The CA Dept of Food & Ag reported last month that there were new outbreaks in Sonoma County, signaling another destructive year ahead. Worse, HPAI has jumped species and now sickens cows, cats, dogs and humans. Not that I would savor eating a mealworm.

CA great for new businesses

Merced Sun-Star. CA named one of the top US states to start a business. 
Synopsis: Location, location, location. WalletHub says California is one of the best locations in the US for starting a business. That’s because so many people here have done it before and office space here is really cheap (for the time being). This is important because one of the top reasons start-ups fail is a poor location. What else makes California special? a) Exceptional financial and planning resources; b) digital resources; c) excellent human capital; d) access to venture investment; e) the five-year survival rate is among the top 10 in the nation. On the downside is cost of living and the cost of doing business with the state. In that last category, CA ranks No. 49 among all states.

Cracking down on food trucks

Merced Daily. Health officials increase crack down on illegal street vendors in Atwater.
Synopsis: Merced County Environmental Health Officers will begin taking “stricter” actions against a growing number of unpermitted street vendors in Atwater. Fines will start at $3,000 and equipment will be impounded on the first violation. Since October, the city has issued fines totaling $52,000, though only $200 has been collected. Many of those cited do not own the mobile facilities in which they work, including taco trucks. Apparently, much of the food sold in the trucks is being prepared outside the trucks then loaded into the for sale elsewhere.
MAD Note: Interestingly, Monterey County announced last week that it would take action against unpermitted and uninspected trucks selling food in the fields and parking lots near Salinas. Monterey officials said the trucks were based in Merced County and asked the county to take action.  

They’re all guilty

Modesto Bee. Former Patterson school officials sentenced to prison in $1.5M embezzlement.
Synopsis: US District Judge John Mendez sentenced Jeffrey Menge to 30 months and Eric Drabert to 18 months for stealing $1.5 million from Patterson Joint Unified. Both were on the low end of what the judge could have sentenced them to. Both must report to prison by May 26. Superintendent Reyes Gauna said the sentencing provides closure and healing for the district. Among other things, Drabert and Menge were accused of running intense crypto-mining operations on the school’s computers.

Fresno Bee. Fresno serial killer who used body for target practice takes triple-murder plea deal. 
Synopsis: Buford J. King pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and waived his right to appeal in exchange for the DA’s decision not to seek the death penalty. When he is sentenced on May 8, the least he can get will be 50 years without the possibility of parole. He killed Donnie Lee, Aleksey Shelest and Alberto Contreras in 2021. “He is not a vicious serial killer. I mean, I guess the people say based on the definition, you know, he’s a serial killer. But he’s really not,” said one of his lawyers. The former soldier served two years in the Middle East and suffered from PTSD, said the lawyer.

Riverbank center expanding

Modesto Bee. Another Trader Joe’s in Stanislaus County?
Synopsis: Trader Joe’s will open its second store in the Modesto area, this one in Riverbank’s new Crossroads West center. The store will be next to a second Hobby Lobby. Other businesses coming to the center include Olive Garden, Sketchers, Jersey Mike’s, Waba Grill and TJ Maxx.
MAD Note: The shopping center is located on Claribel, which was originally envisioned as a high-speed bypass between Modesto and Riverbank.

Merced boxer gets title shot

Merced Sun Star. Merced boxer gets shot at world title.
Synopsis: Jesus “Chiquito” Haro will face champion Oscar “El Pupilo” Collazo on March 14 in Anaheim. It’s billed as a co-main event along with a welterweight fight. Haro, 23, is 13-3 with 2 KOs at 105 pounds. Collazo, 29, is 13-0 with 10 KOs and a 14-to-1 favorite on FanDuel. Apparently, Collazo needed an opponent after Melvin Jerusalem dropped out of the fight.

Immigrant discusses Iran

GV Wire. What’s next for Iran? Darius Assemi shares his hopes and concerns.
Synopsis: A prominent Iranian American, GV Wire publisher and housing developer Darius Assemi spoke on camera with reporter David Taub about the violence in Iran. Assemi immigrated to Fresno from Iran to attend Fresno State, and his family soon followed.

A seriously salty spa

Modesto Bee. Himalayan salt room in a Korean spa? Modesto business provides unique service. 
Synopsis: Reporter Maria Figueroa writes about K Glow Day Spa, which is bringing a host of high-end body services to Modesto for the first time – full-body scrub, head scratch, cold plunges, exfoliation, steam massage and more. Angie Offer moved to Modesto from SoCal a few years ago and couldn’t find the services she enjoyed there, so she built her own spa in McHenry Village. Salt rooms offer “halotherapy,” an alternative medicine for those with respiratory problems. Those scalp massages use rosemary oils (organic, or course) and steam.